The decision to keep Zibanejad in Ottawa will not be impacted by the health status of Regin. According to MacLean, they’re two different cases.

The organization has confirmed however that Regin will undergo more testing on his shoulder tomorrow and will not play against the Columbus Blue Jackets. While the length of time that Regin will miss time is indeterminate, if we look back at the last time that he sustained an injury to his surgically repaired shoulder, he missed two weeks of action that included one preseason games and the first two games of the NHL’s regular season. Assuming that he is out for a similar period of time and comes back by November 3rd, he would miss six regular season games – four more than the two games left in the nine game audition before the first year in Zibanejad’s ELC kicks in.

So what the hell does this mean in the greater scheme of things?

Well, thanks to the ambiguity of the organization’s comments towards Zibanejad’s status, I’m not 100-percent certain. However, looking at the manner in which Ottawa’s forwards were used after Regin sustained his injury; I think we have a clue.

Here are the ice-times of Ottawa’s respective centers during the first period:

Jason Spezza: 6 minutes and 59 seconds

Zack Smith: 5 minutes and zero seconds

Mika Zibanejad: 4 minutes and 24 seconds

Stephane Da Costa: 4 minutes and 15 seconds

Peter Regin: 1 minute and 28 seconds (was injured during his second shift)

And here they are the total ice-times of these players following two periods:

Jason Spezza: 13 minutes and 57 seconds

Zack Smith: 10 minutes and 33 seconds

Mika Zibanejad: 7 minutes and 47 seconds

Stephane Da Costa: 6 minutes and 50 seconds

And again, here are the final accumulated numbers through three periods:

Jason Spezza: 19 minutes and 28 seconds

Zack Smith: 17 minutes and 19 seconds

Mika Zibanejad: 12 minutes and 4 seconds

Stephane Da Costa: 8 minutes and 24 seconds

As you can see from these numbers, the principal beneficiary of Regin’s ice-time was Zack Smith and not Zibanejad. In fact, Zibanejad’s registered time was 27 seconds below his season’s average. So maybe Paul MacLean was correct in asserting that the loss of Regin will have no influence on the decision to keep/return Zibanejad.

Senators Start ‘Movember’ Initiative

Sweet logo. Wonder where they got the idea?

In a press release today, the Ottawa Senators announced that they will be promoting the ‘Movember’ movement to raise funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer.

According to the release, “Senators players Matt Carkner, Erik Karlsson and Zenon Konopka will be participating in Movember this year. Each has pledged to grow a moustache for the duration of the month to help support and draw awareness to the cause. Fans can track the progress of the players and pledge support of their own through the Senators Movember network at http://ca.movember.com/mospace/network/sens.

Senators head coach Paul MacLean, a proud wearer of a moustache, is supportive of his players’ participation in Movember. “I’m happy to challenge our players to grow their own moustaches to support what is a very worthy cause.”

The organization is also offering a ‘Movember’ Ticket package for fans that includes a game ticket and a voucher for a Movember T-shirt, an imitation moustache and a large Rickard’s draft beer from Frank Finnigan’s on game night, all for $35. Five dollars from each ticket package will be donated to the Movember charity through the Sens Foundation. The Movember Madness package is available for three home games: Nov. 5 versus the Buffalo Sabres, Nov. 9 versus the New York Rangers and Nov. 27 versus the Carolina Hurricanes.

As much as I’m not looking forward to seeing Karlsson try to resemble some dude who should be handing out candy from the back of a panelled van, this is a pretty nails promotion.